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Lincoln's walk-in health centre should stay open until reliable alternative services are in place, members of a key council committee have concluded.

NHS Lincolnshire West Clinical Commissioning Group is considering shutting the service in Monks Road which it says costs £1m a year to run and duplicates existing health services.

The CCG is looking at replacing services with extended hours in alternative GP surgeries, an enhanced NHS 111 service and supporting people to self-manage their health conditions.

But members of the City of Lincoln Council's community leadership scrutiny committee have said not enough work has been done to set out exactly how this would be achieved.

The views and opinions from the meeting at the Alive Church in Newland on August 1 will now be fed into the public consultation process.

Committee chairman Councillor Bob Bushell said: "Whilst the committee accepts the need to make financial savings, members do not accept it should limit access to healthcare.

"It was felt that there has not been enough work carried out on robust alternative services.

"The committee feel that the centre should stay open until such services are available and a further review carried out."

The CCG says that a review pinpointed that most patients who use the service do not need to be there and could be treated elsewhere and that evidence shows they are either students and/or patients registered with Lincoln city centre medical practices.

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And research indicates 95 per cent of users required no investigation or treatment, or received minor treatment for minor ailments for which over the counter medicines are available from pharmacies.

However, the committee raised specific concerns in the event of closure about people losing the immediacy of access to healthcare, relatively limited assistance from pharmacies, likely disadvantage to homeless and vulnerable people, and less availability of emergency contraception.

The aspirational nature of much of the proposal was a further concern, "as the NHS is already in crisis and in debt".

Among those invited to the meeting were health officials, Sarah Fletcher from pressure group Health Watch Lincolnshire, and campaigners Dean Graham and Kudzai Muzangaza who together have collected thousands of signatures against closure.

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And that panel could recommend that Mr Hunt carries out a full review, with the possibility of overturning the CCG's decision, or that the matter is mediated locally.

Sarah-Jane Mills, chief operating officer at the CCG, said her response to criticism from two council committees and the public was that "this is a meaningful consultation".

She said: "At the board meeting in September we will consider everyone's feedback. It won't just inform the decision about the walk-in centre, it will also inform the future development of health services and our approach to that."

A consultation runs until Friday, August 18. You can take part by filling in an online survey, emailing getinvolved@lincolnshirewestccg.nhs.uk or by writing to NHS Lincolnshire West Clinical Commissioning Group, Cross O’Cliff, Bracebridge Heath, Lincoln, LN4 2HN.

People can also find out more and speak to CCG staff at public drop-in sessions held on Wednesday, August 9, between 10am and 1pm, and between 4pm and 7pm, at the Abbey Access Centre, in Monks Road.